Huayu: King of Kung Fu

Lin Hu boasted wildly in order to trick Zhang Jin into helping him make a movie.

But in reality, many things are still far from being finalized.

For example, matters involving money.

"The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" is being serialized on Rongshuxia.com and has attracted many readers with the gimmick of "a national martial arts champion writing a martial arts novel".

Although these literary youths had some reservations about Lin Hu's writing style, many of them became addicted to it as they read, and discussed it in the comments section every day.

Lin Hu also met some new faces.

For example, Han Han, but this guy didn't say anything nice; he made sarcastic remarks about Lin Hu's novel.

And then there's Annie Baby, the pioneer of urban bourgeois literature in China.

These people became famous in later generations, but they are of no use to Lin Hu now.

The publication of the novel is still a long way off.

Moreover, even if it is successfully published, the initial royalties will only amount to tens of thousands of yuan.

This amount of money is a drop in the bucket for a film project.

Another major challenge is figuring out how to film in Hong Kong.

However, it's too early to discuss this now; we should wait until the company is established and the filming permit is approved before considering it.

Despite this, Lin Hu is still very busy every day.

At six o'clock in the morning, before dawn, Lin Hu took Wang Baoqiang out of the courtyard house, locked the door, and started running towards Chaoyang District.

Lin Hu rented an empty warehouse in a place called 798 Factory in Chaoyang District and used it as a training ground.

That place was more than ten kilometers away from Lin Hu's residence. Every morning, Lin Hu would take Wang Baoqiang there on a run.

A distance of more than ten kilometers is nothing to a trained fighter like Lin Hu.

As he ran, he turned back to encourage Wang Baoqiang.

"Baoqiang, keep up!"

"Here you are, brother!"

Wang Baoqiang quickly quickened his pace to catch up.

Wang Baoqiang trained at Shaolin Temple for six years. After arriving in Beijing, he rarely took the bus to save money and relied on his own two legs to go everywhere. His physical fitness was also quite good.

The two ran for more than an hour, gradually moving away from the city, and stopped in front of a cluster of Bauhaus-style red brick buildings.

This place used to be an electronic component factory built with aid from the Soviet Union and East Germany in the 1950s. The key components of the first nuclear bomb of the People's Republic of China were made here.

In the 1980s, the electronics factory's profits declined, and it gradually ceased production and went bankrupt. Workers were laid off and became unemployed, turning the place into a desolate industrial wasteland.

In the late 1990s, some artists discovered that this place was far from the city center, very quiet, and the factory rent was extremely low, so they gradually moved to this area.

Gradually, this place became the famous 798 Art District, where most artists from all over the country who came to Beijing to pursue their dreams gathered.

Lin Hu's goal is to make action movies, and he needs to assemble his own team, which first requires a training ground.

The 798 Art Zone offers low rent, a quiet environment, and won't disturb the neighbors, making it an ideal choice.

Lin Hu rented a 200-square-meter warehouse here. The rent was as cheap as 0.2 yuan per square meter per day, and the monthly rent was 1200 yuan, payable monthly, and no deposit was required.

Lin Hu didn't have much money, so he paid for one month's rent first. Once the company's business license was issued, a separate contract would be signed and the payment would be made through the company's accounts.

The two arrived at the warehouse where they practiced their skills and sat down at the entrance to catch their breath.

After resting for a while, Lin Hu stood up and said, "Come on, I'll teach you boxing!"

"Okay, bro!"

Although Wang Baoqiang is honest and simple, he is not stupid.

On his second day following Lin Hu, he saw Lin Hu practicing boxing in the yard, and his eyes immediately lit up.

He immediately praised Lin Hu, saying, "Brother, your punch was amazing! It's even better than my senior brother's."

Lin Hu smiled slightly: "If you want to learn, I'll teach you!"

Wang Baoqiang was overjoyed and immediately wanted to kowtow and become Lin Hu's disciple, but Lin Hu only addressed him as a brother.

Wang Baoqiang met a benefactor named Lin Hu. With Lin Hu, he had food and drink, a place to live, opportunities to practice martial arts, and money to earn.

He treated Lin Hu like a second parent, taking care of all the housework and even washing Lin Hu's underwear.

Um... Lin Hu said, "I'll wash my own underwear and stuff!"

The two exchanged a set of punches when Old Zhang walked in carrying breakfast, greeting them warmly, "Breakfast is ready! Big meat buns and hot soy milk!"

Lin Hu, munching on a meat bun, said to Wang Baoqiang, "Baoqiang, you can practice here. I have to go now. Old Zhang will pick you up tonight!"

"No need, I'll just run back!" Wang Baoqiang thought, trying to save Lin Hu money.

Lin Hu patted him on the shoulder: "Whatever you want!"

Lin Hu returned to the courtyard house, took a shower, changed his clothes, and went out again.

To make a movie, you need to assemble a team, and one Wang Baoqiang isn't enough. He's been busy searching all over Beijing for people lately.

He tends to seek out people who will become very famous in later generations, but who have not yet made a fortune.

Firstly, hiring famous actors is too expensive, so we want to save money wherever possible.

Secondly, discovering up-and-coming stars gives you a thrill of being a talent scout.

However, since these people are not famous yet, they are quite difficult to find.

Lin Hu's principle is to start with the easy and then move on to the difficult, looking for the easy ones first.

The person I'm meeting today is Zhao Yanzi.

Zhao Yanzi finished filming "My Fair Princess" last year, and it hasn't aired yet. Before long, she will become a sensation across Asia.

Lin Hu approached her hoping to snag a bargain, to sign her up for a film role before she became famous.

When "My Fair Princess" becomes a hit, and Lin Hu's "Ong-Bak" is released, wouldn't they be able to capitalize on the hype? They could save a lot on advertising costs.

As for Zhao Yanzi's bad reputation in later generations?

We'll talk about that later; let's deal with the immediate problem first.

Zhao Yanzi was easier to find than Wang Baoqiang; she was a student in the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy in 96.

Lin Hu easily obtained her contact information under the pretense of filming, and the two arranged to meet at a coffee shop near the Taipei Film Academy.

Around 2 PM, Lin Hu arrived at the coffee shop, ordered a coffee, and sat down to wait quietly.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Zhao Yanzi walked in.

She was dressed very fashionably and looked quite pretty, especially her big, bright eyes.

Lin Hu beckoned to Zhao Yanzi, and she came over.

The two shook hands, introduced themselves, sat down, drank coffee, and began to chat.

Looking at Lin Hu's business card, which listed him as the national martial arts champion, Zhao Yanzi asked, "The movie you mentioned, did you star in it yourself?"

"Yes."

"Can I see the script?"

"certainly!"

Zhao Yanzi took Lin Hu's script and found it to be rather simple, lacking any wow factor. She guessed it was the kind of movie where you just skim through the plot and then watch a lot of fighting and killing.

Although Lin Hu claimed on the phone that he wanted her to play the female lead, the role didn't have many scenes; it was just a functional character.

After reading the script, Zhao Yanzi's initial excitement at being offered the lead role faded considerably.

She asked, "Are we going to Hong Kong to film?"

"right!"

"When exactly? How long will the filming take?"

"The plan is to start filming in July and shoot in Hong Kong for a month."

"plan?"

"Yes, as you know, there are all sorts of unexpected things when making a movie, so we can't set a specific time yet."

Lin Hu's movie was barely started when he approached Zhao Yanzi, which wasn't really appropriate.

But in a little over a month, Zhao Yanzi will become famous, and then it will be too late to take advantage of her; she can only try her luck first.

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and Zhao Yanzi asked about her pay. Lin Hu said he would give her 10,000 yuan for a month of filming in Hong Kong.

According to the market rates in mainland China, for a newcomer like Zhao Yanzi to play such a role, 10,000 yuan is already a lot.

However, Zhao Yanzi recently found a boyfriend who is a rich second-generation heir, whose family is extremely wealthy.

She didn't really care about those costing tens of thousands.

Lin Hu's script was a male-dominated play, and Zhao Yanzi was just a decorative figure in it, which failed to move her.

Zhao Yanzi thought about it carefully and felt that the movie was not very interesting, so she refused.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin, I'm not available in July!"

"That's a real shame!"

Zhao Yanzi got up and left. Lin Hu watched her retreating figure and felt that her wishful thinking was not going to work out.

Having neither money nor power, yet dreaming of finding bargains everywhere is too idealistic.